Headboards have conventionally been made of various materials, including wood, steel, and brass. Headboards are associated with frame members for supporting a spring and mattress which frame may also, in some instances, be attached to a footboard as well as to a headboard. Conventionally, headboards are taller than footboards. The means for supporting the mattress may include two side rails associated with a headboard and a footboard or a self-supporting frame. One such self-supporting frame which is well known is the "Harvard" bed frame. Many users have employed "Harvard" bedframes with headboards and have found that it is unnecessary to have a footboard.
In the past, decorators and users of beds utilizing a headboard and a "Harvard" frame or a frame like a "Harvard" frame have paid attention to color and coordination with other elements or fabrics in the bedroom, such as draperies, for example. Manufacturers of bed clothes, including sheets, pillow cases, skirts, and bed covers, including quilts, have departed from the basic white and have gone over to the use of solid colors, stripes, floral designs, and other motifs.
In the past, decorators and users of bedroom furniture have shown a tendency to coordinate the headboard with other colors or fabrics that are used or appear in the bedroom.
The normal upholstered headboard involves a labor-intensive process which is expensive. Efforts have been made to assist the user in a "do-it-yourself" process of upholstering a headboard in a manner to include a matching or harmonizing fabric corresponding to colors or fabrics which appear in the bedroom.
However, all the headboards which include a rigid frame are not readily portable. Indeed, when they are purchased it is almost always necessary to have them delivered, unless the individual customer appears at the place of sale with a pick-up truck or a van or a station wagon.